Call for Papers
Across the planet, climate change has already led to local extinctions of hundreds of species. Phenology is altering, and many species are rapidly changing range. People must adapt to change in local biodiversity, and the ways they adapt will affect species and ecosystems, as well as human well-being. This Ambio Special Feature introduces the theme 'Human Adaptation to Biodiversity Change' for the first time, focusing especially on biodiversity change that is driven by climate change, and on conceptualizing adaptation to biodiversity change 'from below' – that is, adaptation on the part of the people most directly affected.
The articles in this feature will deal with both conceptual issues related to such adaptation (e.g. with how knowledge, values, and livelihoods are best understood in relation to biodiversity change), as well as case studies that investigate the ways in which people have adapted, or are currently adapting (or mal-adapting), to changes in biodiversity that result, e.g. from the local extinction of a single species (e.g. a cultural keystone species), of a group of species (e.g. native crops or crustaceans), or an entire trophic level (e.g. large fish or predators); to changes in community composition (e.g. as a result of invasive species), major changes in population numbers, or in pest and disease incidence, etc. driven principally by climate change. Also of interest are people's responses to shifts in locally and regionally important species or varieties (e.g. crops, trees, fish) as their 'envelopes' shift geographically, entailing both benefits and harms, and potential new forms of cooperation and conflict.
Questions that might be addressed include:
How do people perceive and understand such change?
How do people value biological resources and change in these?
How do people respond to perceived risks, and what affects their ability to respond?
How can such studies contribute to 'climate change adaptation' policy? To biodiversity policy?
Articles are invited from both the developing and developed world, from so-called difficult environments and those that are not, from indigenous peoples living in the tropics or the Artic to 'modern' agriculturalists living in the North. Word limit: 8000 words. Expected publication date: April 2018. Please send manuscripts by May 1st to:
Dr. Rajindra K. Puri rkp@kent.ac.uk or Prof. Patricia Howard P.Howard@kent.ac.uk
Across the planet, climate change has already led to local extinctions of hundreds of species. Phenology is altering, and many species are rapidly changing range. People must adapt to change in local biodiversity, and the ways they adapt will affect species and ecosystems, as well as human well-being. This Ambio Special Feature introduces the theme 'Human Adaptation to Biodiversity Change' for the first time, focusing especially on biodiversity change that is driven by climate change, and on conceptualizing adaptation to biodiversity change 'from below' – that is, adaptation on the part of the people most directly affected.
The articles in this feature will deal with both conceptual issues related to such adaptation (e.g. with how knowledge, values, and livelihoods are best understood in relation to biodiversity change), as well as case studies that investigate the ways in which people have adapted, or are currently adapting (or mal-adapting), to changes in biodiversity that result, e.g. from the local extinction of a single species (e.g. a cultural keystone species), of a group of species (e.g. native crops or crustaceans), or an entire trophic level (e.g. large fish or predators); to changes in community composition (e.g. as a result of invasive species), major changes in population numbers, or in pest and disease incidence, etc. driven principally by climate change. Also of interest are people's responses to shifts in locally and regionally important species or varieties (e.g. crops, trees, fish) as their 'envelopes' shift geographically, entailing both benefits and harms, and potential new forms of cooperation and conflict.
Questions that might be addressed include:
How do people perceive and understand such change?
How do people value biological resources and change in these?
How do people respond to perceived risks, and what affects their ability to respond?
How can such studies contribute to 'climate change adaptation' policy? To biodiversity policy?
Articles are invited from both the developing and developed world, from so-called difficult environments and those that are not, from indigenous peoples living in the tropics or the Artic to 'modern' agriculturalists living in the North. Word limit: 8000 words. Expected publication date: April 2018. Please send manuscripts by May 1st to:
Dr. Rajindra K. Puri rkp@kent.ac.uk or Prof. Patricia Howard P.Howard@kent.ac.uk
